Degradable materials have many uses in our society, ranging from making degradable plastic bags, diapers, and water bottles, to making degradable excipients for pharmaceutical delivery and degradable implants for surgical use, to a wide variety of industrial uses, such as in soil remediation, agriculture, and oil and gas production.
For example, degradable materials have been used for fluid loss control, for diversion, and as temporary plugs in downhole applications of oil and gas production. Examples of degradable materials that have been used downhole include rock salt, benzoic acid flakes, wax beads, wax buttons, oil-soluble resin materials, and the like. In addition to filling and blocking fractures and permeable zones right in the reservoir, degradable materials have also been used to form consolidated plugs in wellbores that degrade after use, eliminating the need for retrieval.
New materials that can be used in such applications are always needed, and in particular materials that quickly degrade under downhole conditions are particularly needed.